The 2008 SmartGeometry Conference featured a day long agenda focused on advanced computational and parametric design. Industry leaders discussed the issues of design, technology, and methodology through their presentations. Parametric design tools and consequential manufacturing technology are allowing new forms of architectural and structural expression which are changing radically the world of the built environment. Sessions also included a selection of highlights from the four day workshop that preceded the conference — providing a wonderful immediacy to the issues and concepts discussed.
The Workshop was held February 29 – March 3, 2008 at the Arabella Sheraton and consisted of four days of hands-on activity, with tutors drawn from practicing professionals from the industry. The goals of the workshop were to explore in depth what can be done with computational design tools by the attendees. It created a critical forum based on professionals who actually practice the skill of parametric and computational geometry.
This full day event which was held March 4, 2008 at the Arabella Sheraton provided an extraordinary opportunity to learn what SmartGeometry alumnae are now achieving in practice and provided a unique networking opportunity for those directly involved in computational design.
This event was held on March 5, 2008 at the BMW Welt.The day long agenda was filled with inspiring sessions where tutors shared the work from this year’s Workshop, and they were joined by presentations from industry leaders and SmartGeometry Directors.
Click on the links below to watch video from each presentation:
GenerativeComponents and Bentley: Updates and Futures
Huw Roberts, Makai Smith, Volker Mueller Bentley
Ecotect and GenerativeComponents Link
Andrew Marsh Square One
Ecotect and GenerativeComponents Link: The Green Component
Kaustuv De Biswas MIT
Structural Engineering Use: Computational Design and Construction
Jalal El Ali Buro Happold
Structural Engineering Use: How Intelligent will SmartGeometry Be?
Jeroen Coenders Arup
GenerativeComponents in Academia: Computational Form and Material
Achim Menges AA
GenerativeComponents in Academia: Form and Algorithm
Jenny Sabin University of Pennsylvania and Cabin Studio
GenerativeComponents in Academia: Thinking About the Tool Box
Rob Woodbury SFU
Why Program?
Jonathan Rabagliati Foster + Partners
Why Program?
Axel Kilian TU Delft
Computational Approaches
Chris Williams Bath University
Computational Approaches: Subtleties of Computational Methods
Mirco Becker KPF
Form and Practice
Roly Hudson SFU
Form and Practice: Generative Art
Andrew Kudless Matsys
Large Firms: Agent - Tool - Method
Onur Gun KPF
Large Firms
Brady Peters Foster + Partners
Large Firms: Gondola's and Yachts
Xavier de Kestelier Foster + Partners
New York Report
Shane Burger Grimshaw
New York Report: Some Challenges
Steve Sanderson SHoP
Collaborative Research: Component Arcologies
Kevin Pratt Cornell University
Collaborative Research: Parametric Ecology
Marco Poletto ecoLogicStudio + AA
Stadia
Andrew Edge HOK Sports
Stadia
Eike Schling, David Kosdruy TU Munich
Video hosting generously provided by Bentley Systems
Click on the links below to watch video from each presentation:
Welcome
Huw Roberts Bentley
Welcome
Lars Hesselgren, Hugh Whitehead, J Parrish SmartGeometry Directors
When we can do anything, how do we think about it?
Prof. Dr. Helmut Pottmann TU Vienna
When we can do anything, how do we think about it?
Patrik Schumacher Zaha Hadid
Form for Manufacture - Reports from the Workshop
Workshop Fabrication: Axel Kilian TU Delft
How does the tool inform us? How to we make purpose tools?
Workshop Structure: Jeroen Coenders Arup
Bending materials or not - who takes the strain?
Dr. Roman Kemmler Schlaich Bergermann und Partner
Fibre Architectures in Biology and Technology
Prof. George Jerominides Reading University
What is cool? If we do it, how do we do it?
Prof. Dipl. -Ing. Manfred Grohmann Bollinger + Grohmann Ingenieure
Ambient Form
Brett Steele AA
Digital Manufacturing as a Design Driver
Volker Junior Junior & Tacke
10 Projects with Digital Manufacturing
Fabian Scheurer designtoproduction
Design - Revolution or Evolution? Lessons for Architects?
Workshop Architecture: Rob Woodbury SFU
Built Images
Philipp Schaerer Digital Artist
Virtual vs Real - What is the Impact on Design?
Silvan Oesterle Bramazio & Kohler, ETH Zurich
Parametric Form - A New Design Paradigm
Workshop Form: Achim Menges AA, HFG Offenbach
Computation
Workshop Computation: Chris Williams Bath University
Tall and Sustainable - Does it Figure?
Judit Kimpian Aedas
Carbon Neutrality - Form or Technology?
Shane M Burger Grimshaw
Design Efficiency - How and Why?
Andrew Marsh Square One
Efficient Design and Construction of Free Forms
Jaime Sanchez-Alvarez Mero
Form for Environment
Workshop Environment: Shane Burger Grimshaw
Video hosting generously provided by Bentley Systems
The SmartGeometry workshops offer participants a unique opportunity to meet and work with tutors from some of the leading practices exploiting new parametric technologies as design methodologies.
The key focus of the 2008 workshops was design to manufacture. Increasingly areas of expertise are converging based on digital tools and in today’s environment operating between multiple computing environments is common. Although the base software used at the course was Bentley’s GenerativeComponents (provided for free to attendees) several of the workshops explored links to other design, computation and design environments.
Other sessions focused on linkages to analysis for performance evaluation such as environmental, structural, and of course light simulation.
The Workshop was divided into 5 rooms, each of which pursued a predominant although not exclusive theme. Each workshop also linked to a variety of other software, ranging from Excel to analysis and simulation.
Workshop groups were led by 24 tutors, including these senior tutors.
Achim Menges Architectural Association London / HFG Offenbach
Andrew Kudless California College of the Arts / Matsys
Axel Kilian TU Delft / designexplorer.net
Brady Peters Foster + Partners
Chris Williams Bath University
Francis Aish Foster + Partners
Hugh Whitehead Foster + Partners
Jalal El Ali Buro Happold
Jenny E. Sabin University of Pennsylvania and CabinStudio
Jeroen Coenders Arup
Jonathan Rabagliati Foster + Partners
J Parrish Arup Sport
Judit Kimpian Aedas
Kaustuv De Biswas MIT
Lars Hesselgren KPF
Mirco Becker KPF
Onur Yuce Gun KPF
Rob Woodbury Simon Fraser University
Roly Hudson Bath University
Shane Burger Grimshaw
Steve Sanderson SHoP
Stylianos Dritsas KPF
Volker Mueller Bentley
Xavier De Kestelier Foster + Partners